All posts tagged Alan Mulally

Ford Motor Co. has begun a broad search for candidates to replace current Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, who is expected to leave the company within two years, people familiar with the matter said.

Candidates for the position include at least two former Ford executives as well as two internal candidates, those people said. The internal candidates are Americas President Mark Fields, 50, and Joe Hinrichs, 45, the chief of Asian operations.

External candidates include John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai Motor Co.’s North American arm and Phil Martens, CEO of Novelis Inc., an aluminum products company. Mr. Krafcik, 50, declined to comment; Mr. Martens, 55, declined to say if he had been contacted, adding: “I’m sure the board will make the right decision.”

DETROIT—Jim Farley, the head of marketing at Ford Motor Co., has lately been telling his young son that there is a very scary person living in their neighborhood—a man who works for General Motors Co.

The neighbor, he has explained, is a “bad man” who works for the “wrong company,” Mr. Farley recalled at a recent gathering of bloggers, according to a video of the event that was posted on YouTube.

On Halloween, the father and son trick-or-treated at the man’s house, and the boy took candy and then announced, “‘Chevy is for losers,’” Mr. Farley told the bloggers. “I’ve never been more proud of my son,” he added.

It’s copy-and-paste time again at the Consumer Electronics Association show with the return of keynote address maker, Ford CEO Alan Mulally.

For the third time since joining Ford Motor Co. in 2006, Mr. Mulally, who previously worked at Boeing Co., will speak to thousands of conventioneers who gather to see the latest in whiz-bang gadgets that increasingly find their way through cell phones into digital dashboards featured on new cars and trucks. Billed as the world’s largest consumer technology trade show, it will be held January 6 through 9 in Las Vegas.

Ford Motor Co.’s second-quarter profit of $2.6 billion was driven in part by a 20% percent rise in sales. But the results also reflected higher prices for the company’s vehicles and fewer of the discounts, rebates and other incentives that made it easy for consumers to get big deals for the past several years.

Ford also has benefited from CEO Alan Mulally’s long-term overhaul of its vehicle lineup. The company has generated a steady flow of popular new models like the Fusion hybrid and redesigned Taurus and Mustang over the past year or so. Consumers have been willing to pay higher prices for the fresh models. Analysts say buyers are also spending more on extras like leather upholstery, heated seats and electronic gadgets.